The governors of the Australian states, who represent their respective head of state (the King of Australia), have a personal flag in that role. With the exception of Queensland's, the current design of these flags originate from the 1970s and 1980s.
The governors of British colonies have historically used as their personal flag the Union Flag defaced in the centre with a local badge or coat of arms to represent their status as vice-regal representative in that colony. In the then Australasian colonies, the governors used the colonial badge encircled in a laurel wreath. After federation, when the Australian colonies became states of the Commonwealth of Australia, the governors continued using their earlier flags.
During the 1970s and 80s, the states, with the exception of Queensland, moved away from the British colonial model. This was in line with the constitutional developments of the time, which culminated in the Australia Act 1986, which ended the states' constitutional status as individual colonies of the United Kingdom. Since the passing of the Act, the governors of the Australian states have ceased to have any constitutional relationship with the government of the United Kingdom, and represent the monarch in his or her capacity of sovereign of each of the individual states.
The state governors’ flags of most states is the same as the state's flag but with a graphical representation of St Edward's crown above the badge. The flags of Victoria and Queensland already contain a crown, and so these states use different models: the governor of Victoria's flag uses a gold ensign with the stars of the Southern Cross in red, whereas the governor of Queensland's flag maintains the old defaced Union Jack.
| New South Wales | Queensland | South Australia | Tasmania | Victoria | Western Australia |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 1870–1876 |  1870–1876 |  1870–1876 |  1875–1876 |  1870–1877 |  1870–1953 |
 1876–1981 |  1876–1901 |  1876–1904 |  1876–1977 |  1877–1903 |  1953–1988 |
 1981–present |  1901–1953 |  1904–1975 |  1977–present |  1903–1953 |  1988–present |
 1953–present |  1975–present |  1953–1984 | |||
 1984–present | |||||
The governor of New South Wales is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governors of the Australian states perform constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the premier of New South Wales, and serves in office for an unfixed period of time—known as serving At His Majesty's pleasure—though five years is the general standard of office term. The current governor is retired judge Margaret Beazley, who succeeded David Hurley on 2 May 2019.
The Union Jack or Union Flag is the de facto national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Flag was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. The flag continues to have official status in Canada, by parliamentary resolution, where it is known as the Royal Union Flag.
The Red Ensign or "Red Duster" is the civil ensign of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is one of the British ensigns, and it is used either plain or defaced with either a badge or a charge, mostly in the right half.
The current state flag of Tasmania was officially adopted following a proclamation by Tasmanian colonial Governor Sir Frederick Weld on 25 September 1876, and was first published in the Tasmanian Gazette the same day. The governor's proclamation here were three official flags, they being the Governor's flag, the Tasmania Government vessel flag, and a Tasmania merchant flag. Up until 1856 when Tasmania was granted responsible self-government, the Union flag and the British ensign were primarily used on state occasions.
The current state flag of South Australia, was officially adopted in 1904.
In British maritime law and custom, an ensign is the identifying flag flown to designate a British ship, either military or civilian. Such flags display the United Kingdom Union Flag in the canton, with either a red, white or blue field, dependent on whether the vessel is civilian, naval, or in a special category. These are known as the red, white, and blue ensigns respectively.
Each Australian state has a governor to represent Australia's monarch within it. The governors are the nominal chief executives of the states, performing the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the governor-general of Australia at the national or federal level. In practice, with notable exceptions the governors are generally required by convention to act on the advice of the state premiers or the other members of a state's cabinet.
In the British Empire, a self-governing colony was a colony with an elected government in which elected rulers were able to make most decisions without referring to the colonial power with nominal control of the colony. This was in contrast to a Crown colony, in which the British Government ruled and legislated via an appointed Governor, with or without the assistance of an appointed Council. Most self-governing colonies had responsible government.
The flag of Victoria is a British Blue Ensign defaced by the state badge of Victoria in the fly. The badge is the Southern Cross surmounted by an imperial crown, which is currently the St Edward's Crown. The stars of the Southern Cross are white and range from five to eight points with each star having one point pointing to the top of the flag. The flag dates from 1870, with minor variations, the last of which was in 1901. It is the only Australian state flag not to feature the state badge on a round disc.
The current state flag of New South Wales was officially adopted in 1876. The flag is based on the defaced British Blue Ensign with the state badge located in the fly. The badge, based on the coat of arms, is a white disc with the cross of St George, a golden lion passant guardant in the centre of the cross and an eight-pointed gold star on each arm of the cross.
The state flag of Queensland is a British Blue Ensign with the state badge on a white disc added in the fly. The badge is a light blue Maltese Cross with a Saint Edward's Crown in the centre of the cross. The flag dates from 1876, with minor variations, and the badge was designed by William Hemmant, the Colonial Secretary and Treasurer of Queensland in 1876.
The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia agreed to unite and form the Commonwealth of Australia, establishing a system of federalism in Australia. The colonies of Fiji and New Zealand were originally part of this process, but they decided not to join the federation. Following federation, the six colonies that united to form the Commonwealth of Australia as states kept the systems of government that they had developed as separate colonies, but they also agreed to have a federal government that was responsible for matters concerning the whole nation. When the Constitution of Australia came into force, on 1 January 1901, the colonies collectively became states of the Commonwealth of Australia.
The flag of the governor general of Canada is a flag used as a symbol to mark the presence of the governor general of Canada. Such a flag has been used by governors general since just after Canadian Confederation and the design has altered over decades. The current flag was adopted in 1981.
The Queen's Personal Australian Flag was the flag of Elizabeth II in her role as Queen of Australia. It was used in a similar way as the Royal Standard in the UK, by signalling the monarch's presence within a building or vehicle in Australia.
The monarchy of Australia is a key component of Australia's form of government, embodied by the Australian sovereign and head of state. The Australian monarchy is a constitutional one, modelled on the Westminster system of parliamentary government, while incorporating features unique to the constitution of Australia.
The Star of India refers to a group of flags used during the period of the British Raj in the Indian subcontinent. India had a range of flags for different purposes during its existence. The Princely states had their own flags which were to be flown alongside the British flag as a symbol of suzerainty. The official state flag for use on land was the Union Flag of the United Kingdom and it was this flag that was lowered on Independence Day in 1947. The flag of the governor-general of India was defaced with the Star of India. The civil ensign and naval ensign were the Red Ensign or Blue Ensign, respectively, defaced with the Star of India emblem.
Australia is a constitutional monarchy whose Sovereign also serves as Monarch of the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada and eleven other former dependencies of the United Kingdom including Papua New Guinea, which was formerly a dependency of Australia. These countries operate as independent nations, and are known as Commonwealth realms. The history of the Australian monarchy has involved a shifting relationship with both the monarch and also the British government.
The Constitutional history of Australia is the history of Australia's foundational legal principles. Australia's legal origins as a nation state began in the colonial era, with the reception of English law and the lack of any regard to existing Indigenous legal structures. As the colonies expanded, Australia gradually began to achieve de facto independence. Over the years as a result the foundations of the Australian legal system gradually began to shift. This culminated in the Australia Act, an act formally ending legal ties with the UK.
Queen Elizabeth II had a variety of flags to represent her personally and as head of state of several independent nations around the world. They were usually used on any building, ship, car, or aircraft where she was present.
A dominion was any of several largely self-governing countries of the British Empire. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of colonial self-governance increased unevenly over the late 19th century through the 1930s, and some vestiges of empire lasted in some areas into the late 20th century. With the evolution of the British Empire into the Commonwealth of Nations, finalised in 1949, the dominions became independent states, either as Commonwealth republics or Commonwealth realms.
